But for a few days last week, the Madison Opera thrust itself onto the national stage with the premiere of "Shining Brow," an opera by the rising young composer Daron Aric Hagen about a particularly tempestuous period in Wright's life. The plucky little company, with a normal budget of $350,000 for its two productions a year, originated the idea and raised the $500,000 needed to carry the commission through in high style. The last of the work's three performances at the Madison Civic Center took place on Sunday afternoon.

Wright, who was born in Richland Center, Wis., built his home in nearby Spring Green, in the lovely rolling hills of southwestern Wisconsin, in 1911. He integrated the structure into a hillside and called it Taliesin, "Shining Brow" in Welsh, the language of his forebears. In 1914, while Wright was in Chicago, his cook ran amok, murdering Wright's mistress of a decade, Mamah Cheney, and her two children, and setting Taliesin ablaze; four other people died in the fire.

"Shining Brow" was a daring venture on the part of several bright young talents. Paul Muldoon, a noted Irish poet, wrote the libretto. Stephen Wadsworth, who collaborated with Leonard Bernstein on "A Quiet Place" and headed the Skylight Theater in Milwaukee from 1984 to 1991, directed. David Birn designed the sets, Laura Crow the costumes. Most of them discussed their contributions in articles published before the production, and their explanations and theories are fascinating to contemplate.

The entire enterprise exuded intelligence. Bold invention and grand theories have, of course, not always made for good opera, and at times "Shining Brow" bogs down in abstraction and introspection. But overall, the work is effective and stimulating.

Photo: Michael Sokol performing in the role of Frank Lloyd Wright in the Madison Opera's premiere of "Shining Brow," an opera about a particularly tempestuous period in the architect's life. (James Gill)

Being Frank: On Composing "Shining Brow"

Frank Lloyd Wright borrowed the name Taliesin from the Welsh. It means “shining brow”, a name appropriate for his two homes positioned just under the crowns of hills. Since his death in 1959, Taliesin West has become a historical landmark and the home of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. It is a signature of his ability to reflect the ambient landscape in his architecture. The building lies relatively low and wide, matching the sprawling Sonoran Desert around it. Many of its walls are made of thick cement encasing white, brown, and red stones from the surrounding desert hills. Inside, the walls and ceiling slant in unique ways, and a hexagonal theatre provides incredible sound even for those in the back of the room. Back outside, red wood and iron trusses compliment white rooftops.

Shining Brow - Paul Muldoon - Complete Review

's opera Shining Brow deals with one of the great tragedies in American history, one that relatively few Americans know about: in 1914 a crazed servant killed architect 's family and burned his specially built home, the first "Taliesin," to the ground. For an America that has witnessed celebrity tragedies like the death of actor Phil Hartman, or even the assassination of , perhaps this sad tale has lost some of its sting, but in its time it was an electrifying event and one that significantly cost in terms of his reputation. The brilliant, exemplary career that followed -- in the wake of a personal tragedy that would have stopped many a stronger man than -- proved more than enough to rescue him from the scandal of 1914. However, the opera makes clear that the story is a complex one, and that was partly at fault for what happened, owing to his inattentiveness to personal matters and the effect his constant, "head in the clouds" visionary streak had on the people around him. composed the opera with librettist between 1989 and 1991, and since its 1993 premiere it has been given several times, always to acclaim. The Naxos recording of Shining Brow, which is the opera's first, was made with baritone in the role of and as his ill-fated paramour, Mamah Cheney, from a semi-staged 2006 production given in Buffalo, with the under the direction of .

Shining Brow-an opera about Frank Lloyd Wright Posted on June 5, 2013

» Shining Brow Inc

Shining Brow Software | Facebook

From the recording it is easy to hear why this opera has caught on with audiences; it is suitably dramatic and moves forward with an inexorability that keeps the listener captivated. About , The New York Times commented once that he "has a gift for the big tune," and this is true; he's not afraid of melody and understands its value in keeping the action moving forward and focusing the ear. also has a gift for interesting orchestration that supports the story and adds color and also utilizes purely instrumental passages that are, in themselves, well done and are indivisibly linked to the story. Shining Brow is not made up of wall-to-wall singing, as so many post-modern operas are. 's command of the is indispensible to the success of the recording; the orchestra never covers the singers, but comes in with authority in passages where they are the main event. There is only a summary provided with no libretto, but if you speak English, you won't need one. The singing and diction are so clear throughout that everything is easily understood, not a common attribute with recorded operas in English. Some of 's most inspired writing attaches to those scenes where is off on a tangent, expressing his bold visions about his given profession. This naturally goes toward character building and not toward developing the plot, and many composers would find such material boring and not linger on it, but not , who understands that power of the man is principal motivation for the ultimately awful things that happen to him. Shining Brow is a compelling, substantive, and strong entry into the canon of American opera, and Naxos' recording of it speaks volumes about just how vital and fresh opera has become in the twenty first century.